Dental Health
Your teeth are pearly-white, beautiful and perfect when they emerge. Toothportal.net would like to help you keep them that way.
It’s the goal of Toothportal.co.uk to heighten the level of dental health by freely providing:
- A better understanding of, and insight into, your own situation
- An optimal understanding for self help and prevention
- A way to reduce the likelihood of miscommunication between you and your dentist
Teeth…and People
In school, dental students are taught to treat teeth. In the real world, it is the people attached to the teeth who will either agree or disagree with the proposed treatment. If they agree with the proposed treatment that’s great; but what if they don’t? In private practice those patients will typically never return.
The following are guidelines, developed by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, for preventing baby-bottle tooth decay:
v Don’t allow a child to fall asleep with a bottle containing milk, formula, fruit juices or other sweet liquids.
v Comfort a child who wants a bottle between regular feedings or during naps with a bottle filled with cool water.
v Always make sure a child’s pacifier is clean, and never dip a pacifier in a sweet liquid.
v Introduce children to a cup as the approach 1 year of age. Children should stop drinking from bottles soon after their first birthdays.
v See the dentist if any unusual red or swollen areas appear in a child’s mouth, or any dark spot on a child’s tooth.
Mouthwashes
We offer thorough check-ups and analysis of the bacteria in your saliva for determining decay and periodontal risk.
Tooth decay and gum disease is caused by specific species of bacteria. These bacteria can be detected in your saliva through microscopic and DNA analyses. We can also test these bacteria for antibiotic resistance so that if antibiotics are appropriate for your therapy we can pick the most effective one and minimize your dosage.
Healthy adult teeth begin with healthy baby teeth. Knowing and following the AAPD guidelines, and visiting a dentist for the first check-up around the age of 1, are very important for preventing young children from getting ECC.
Brushing your teeth
Brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste is essential to good oral health. Not only does brushing your teeth help prevent tooth decay, it also helps prevent gum disease, which is one of the leading causes of tooth loss in adults and has been linked to heart attacks and strokes. Removing tooth stains and avoiding bad breath are added benefits of brushing your teeth.
